Winter reflections 22/23 W// Ben Faulkner
Where to start… So winter is generally a time I like to get all my social fishing done, catch up with mates and try my best to get a bend in the rod before the onslaught of the spring campaign starts.
Now, this piece is going to be a bit of a reflection of how, why, and when I use the tactic I do, which is zig fishing. Zigs can be a deadly tactic anytime in the year, but even more so come winter, as let’s be honest, the carp spend 99% of their time off the bottom of the lake bed, so it stands to reason that a bit of foam suspended in the upper layers will stand you in good stead.
As with any aspect of our passion, location is the single most important part of the puzzle because let’s be honest, we cannot catch what isn’t in front of us. So my first port of call is always to walk, look and listen to try and locate their whereabouts.
Once I’m happy with my swim choice, I’ll go about trying to get some zigs tied up at a depth I believe they’re happy/comfortable to be in. Now, this can be a bit of a guessing game, but I personally always start at roughly half depth and switch them up or down accordingly till I find “that” zone.
My winter angling has been half decent this year, catching fish from all venues I’ve gone to bar one. Let’s go back to between Christmas and New Year. Myself and good mate Ballard decided we stay local and fish a little day ticket venue near home. The plan was rods out, catch up, catch a few, then home again…. And yes, this did happen, but the session was cut short as man flu took a hold of me and didn’t want to let go. When I say I was in agony, believe me, the pain was real, but a couple of bites made this more bearable.
Moving forward into the new year, once I’d got over this horrendous virus, I was itching to get back out, so I headed over to another day ticket venue, which has good winter/zig form. Although we were near the fish, we just weren’t close enough and tried all colors depths but to no avail…
The next trip out was a spur of the moment trip up to the Cotswolds and happened to coincide with a full moon and the venue Horcott which some of you guys may have visited with us by the time you get to read this.
I turned up on the Friday afternoon to go bright blue skies, sunny, and mild for the time of year, to the point I set up in a T-shirt. But Mr. Weatherman had other ideas because as soon as the sun dropped, the temperatures absolutely plummeted. Food cooked, tea’s drank, and an early night was in order. I dropped off to sleep happy that my zigs were out in the kill zone, and I must add at this point; I’d just taken delivery of the new SLAB liquids, which my good lady Kayleigh had won on a Max Attract competition.
I woke sometime between 10-11 pm for a call of nature (bloody tea’s) and remember thinking how still the water looked. Business done, back in the bag quick time; it was freezing. I woke at first light to that dreaded sight: a 25-acre lake had frozen completely overnight. A quick check of the forecast showed it wasn’t thawing anytime soon. A chat to the bailiff, the boat retrieved to break the ice so I could get the rods in… absolute rubbish!!!!
Packed up, warmed up, and headed for home, hoping to return in the next few weeks when the conditions weren’t so Baltic. And return I did.
So the return trip was planned, the weather looked absolutely bang on, just needed Friday's work to hurry up and finish so I could get on my way, full steam up the M4 and pulled into a busy Horcott. Quick chat with my buddy Ballard who’d arrived early doors and not a lot had been happening. I slotted in next to Matty, ready for a nice social, takeaway, and a few brews. Matty had already plumbed his swim at a depth of 9 feet, so a 5’ and 4’ zig was tied, glugged in the pro-spice SLAB liquid, and whizzed out to oblivion.
Dinner destroyed, brews drank, bed was calling. I lay on the bed and drifted off in record time, only to be woken to a couple of beeps. On closer inspection, the bobbin was ever so slightly bouncing. That’s a bite!!!! I wound this fish in like a dog on a lead from the 110 yards I was fishing in record time. Then in the edge, it gave a little tussle. In the net, she went… I bloody got one and a decent one too, 31lb of fully scaled Cotswold carp, and I was buzzing.
Rod re-wrapped, SLABBED to the 9’s, back into the zone, and back to bed a very happy angler. No more action in the night, but woke to a funny occurrence on my right-hand rod at first light. Tighten the bobbin back up, kettle on, eyes scanning like a hawk. Another single beep had me stood next to the rod watching that bobbin… tiny twitch, fish onnnn, and locked up solid in the towers of weed (yes, in the depths of winter). A call to the bailiff, and the boat brought round to me. At this point, I’d just like to say please NEVER go out in a boat without a life jacket on, even if you are a strong swimmer, no fish is worth a lost life…Back to the boat, jackets on, and out we towed ourselves to above the fish. An epic boat battle ensued, and another beautiful Cotswold fish was mine,
and another good one too at 28.10. Bloody lovely times indeed… That unfortunately was the end of the action, but I’m certain the SLAB liquids played a huge part in those captures (get on it quickly)
Moving forward onto my syndicate lake, I’d planned to start on there after our Horcott social at the end of March, but an opportunity arrived, and I thought a little wonder won’t hurt. Well, 50-60 shows later had me charging around with my head on fire, tying up some zigs. A chat with the angler next door who was 3 nights deep for sod all, told me it was definitely going to be a tough campaign. Back to my swim, and a couple of SLAB soaked foam hookbaits were in the zone, a little boring, but two hours later, the left rod was away. Another mega battle, snags weed the whole works, and eventually, in the net, she went… first session success on the low stock pit, and I was buzzing.
At 24.14, it mattered not a jot. The new water campaign was underway… Zigs for the win…
So to summarise… location is paramount, start at roughly half depth, get on the SLAB liquids and give the zigs a go it could just be the difference between a blank winter and a mega one.
Tight lines
Ben
